SPOKANE, Wash. — The U.S. Department of Labor (USDL) issued fines and penalties to Rosauers Supermarkets Inc., a Spokane-based supermarket chain, following an investigation into pay and employment practices at 23 stores.
The investigation revealed several violations, including failure to pay employees for meal breaks less than 20 minutes, failing to include evening premium pay, hazard pay, non-discretionary bonuses in regular pay rates and violating child labor regulations.
Due to the investigation, Rosauers will pay more than $350,000 in back wages and damages to 602 employees and pay $72,862 in fines. The penalties assessed included compensation for unpaid wages, damages and fines for child labor violations.
The violations were found in 16 stores in Washington, four in Montana, two in Idaho and one in Oregon.
USDL officials said Rosauers was found to have illegally employed five minors, ages 16 and 17, at its Ridgefield, Wash. store to operate heavy machinery; including a powered scrap paper baler and paper box compactor.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is determined to enforce laws that protect workers’ rights to be paid fully and to prevent young employees from being employed in dangerous jobs," said Carrie Aguilar, the Wage and Hour Division District Director in Portland, Ore.
Rosauers sent KREM 2 the following statement regarding the investigation:
"This settlement is a result of an ongoing conversation with the Department of Labor that started in 2021 looking back 3 years.
We have policies in place to protect all our employees, especially any 16 and 17-year-olds we employ. One such policy prohibits minors from operating hazardous machinery. The infractions in question, when discovered, occurred at one store, and was quickly rectified, roughly two years ago. We have since taken even more steps to ensure our employees are safe through prevention, training, and awareness.
The vast majority of back wages in question resulted from payments regarding COVID appreciation and other bonuses. The bonuses were ruled as non-discretionary which causes the calculation of overtime to be treated differently. We have adjusted our calculations to include such bonuses and now align with the Dept of Labor regulations.
As for the unpaid breaks, this happens when a staff member clocks in too early from a lunch break. An infrequent occurrence but one that happens. Our policies have been in place for years regarding paid breaks, so this was an opportunity for us to re-educate our team regarding our best practices. We have also taken steps in our time keeping software to ensure that the thousands of time clock entries that occur daily, align with the federal meal break policy.
Rosauers enjoys having some of the longest-tenured and best employees in our industry. We believe this is due to our emphasis on keeping everyone safe and appreciated. The Department of Labor exists to keep everyone safe and employed. We cooperated with them fully to be sure we were abiding by all rules and regulations."
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